Gifting pistol to daughter for 18th birthday

I’m not a lawyer, but federally it is legal for someone 18 or over to possess a pistol (if memory serves, it is 18 USC 922 (x)). They can acquire a gun in any legal way (gift, FTF purchase, etc depending on local law) but just can’t transfer a pistol from a FFL until they are 21.

Unfortunately I can’t help with IL or MO law, but definitely check.

Check on IL and MO transport laws as well. Interstate transport would probably be covered by FOPA, but her traveling within MO while she’s at school may be different.

For example, Alabama previously had a law that said you can’t have a gun in your vehicle unless you are doing something like going to the range, a gun store, or a number of other places specifically named in law (note this didn’t apply if you had a CCW permit). That means it would have been a questionably legal to just store a gun in the trunk of a car (unless you were always headed to a gun store )

I bought my first pistol when I was 18 and noticed a few things that might be good to think about.

First, buying ammo can be touchy. You’ll probably need to buy ammo for your daughter.

There are a LOT of people who think it’s illegal for anyone under 21 to possess a pistol. And these people are sometimes at gun stores or are cops. While they’re wrong (federally, check the state laws of course) they can make your daughter’s life more difficult than it needs to be.

I have too many stories of the issues, but i eventually started carrying around a binder with highlighted copies of federal and Alabama code, as well as ATF determination letters, just in case I ever needed to argue that what I was doing was legal. Sadly, I had to use it several times.

Overall it’s much easier if people either don’t know she has a gun, or don’t know her age. Being a girl might help a bit because she can always go with the line “it’s impolite to ask a woman’s age”.

Finally, I don’t know if she cares about carrying, but there are several states that will issue non-resident CCW permits with a minimum age of 18 (rather than 21). Several can be done without having to be physically in the state or taking a state specific course. My life got a lot easier when someone would question if it was legal for me to have my pistol and I could say “of course it is! And here, let me show you my THREE concealed weapons permits”

Another benefit is that sometimes reciprocity works depending on state law, so even if your daughter can’t carry in IL on those permits, she might be able to carry in other states.

By 500 miles away I am guessing southern Missouri, then it should not be any problem. It is legal for someone 18 years of age to have a handgun in MO, the only area in the state to be concerned about is St. Louis and that mainly because it is a hell hole of corruption.

Will it be legal for her to have the gun in her car on campus?

Be sure to check both the college policies about having a gun on campus, as well as state law in MO concerning guns on school campuses. In some states guns-on-schools applies only to elementary and high schools, and in other states it applies to public and private colleges/universities, too. Even locked security in the trunk, if there is either school policy or state law forbidding it, she would be in violation of such a prohibition.
Best to her?

Neo-Luddite said:

My intent is to gift her a Glock 19 and secure it in a locking safe in her car's trunk as an 'in case' item should her car break down between here and there. And of course for other contingencies that might arise in which her personal safety might be at heightened risk.

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Have you talked with her about your plan and your gift?

Ru4real said:

Have you talked with her about your plan and your gift?

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Personally I think it's a bad idea. Why not wait until she's out of school. There's so many minefields as it is, why add another mine.

ilbob said:

Personally I think it's a bad idea. Why not wait until she's out of school. There's so many minefields as it is, why add another mine.

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That’s why I asked OP the question. We want to protect our kids. I had OP’s same thoughts with my daughter so I bought her a gun and gave it as a gift about 3 years ago. She grew up around guns, shooting IDPA, hunting, etc. But she wanted no part of carrying a gun when I gave her the gift.

When they are ready, they will ask. They know we have the means and knowledge.

Is she claiming residency in Illinois or Missouri? If she's claiming residency in Illinois, then Federally it is a instate private transfer and that is legal. Not sure on the Illinois State Law requirements on private sales/transfers. If she's claiming residency in Missouri then the gun has to go through a FFL and since she's under 21 she can't take legal possession of the firearm.

In PA you need a Concealed Permit to have a handgun in your car when not en-route to or from a range, gunsmith, etc., especially if it's loaded. In addition, you need to be 21 to get that permit. Not sure about IL or MO law, but you might want to do some research before officially transferring the firearm. I made my now 26 year old daughter get a Carry Permit as soon as she hit 21, but left the gun possession question up to her. She now has the permit, a Beretta 81, but hasn't decided to carry yet.

George P said:

Will it be legal for her to have the gun in her car on campus?

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Craig_VA said:

Be sure to check both the college policies about having a gun on campus, as well as state law in MO concerning guns on school campuses. In some states guns-on-schools applies only to elementary and high schools, and in other states it applies to public and private colleges/universities, too. Even locked security in the trunk, if there is either school policy or state law forbidding it, she would be in violation of such a prohibition. Best to her?

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Neo - these are both good points. Be careful !!

In MO you do not have to have a permit to transport a firearm in your vehicle, an 18 year old can own a handgun. While I cannot speak to IL laws once your daughter drives into MO she is legal, we are a free state. I am unsure of college rules for students but it is legal for you too have a firearm in your car on school/university grounds as long as it does not leave the car.

Miami_JBT said:

Is she claiming residency in Illinois or Missouri? If she's claiming residency in Illinois, then Federally it is a instate private transfer and that is legal. Not sure on the Illinois State Law requirements on private sales/transfers. If she's claiming residency in Missouri then the gun has to go through a FFL and since she's under 21 she can't take legal possession of the firearm.

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For the purposes of acquiring firearms, a person doesn't "claim residency" in a state, they just have to live there with the intent of making it their home.
ATF Ruling 2010-6 State of Residence addresses this: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/ruling/2010-6-state-residence/download
Further, ATF Ruling 80-21says that during the time college students actually reside in a college dormitory or at an off campus location, they are considered residents of the State where the on-campus or off campus housing is located. Meaning you can be a resident of more than one state.

And given that the OP's daughter isn't yet attending college in Missouri, she remains a resident of Illinois for any and all purposes.

ilbob said:

Personally I think it's a bad idea. Why not wait until she's out of school. There's so many minefields as it is, why add another mine.

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I agree. I could no imagine having a gun when I was in College) especial the first year I was in a dorm. After that in apartments with roommates.
Just would have been a nightmare IMHO!
Many University do not allow firearms.
What good is it, if it is locked in a box in a car??? (which is not a good idea anyway)

Get her several cans of pepper spray!

What this thread really needs are actual IL residents who have FOID FTF transfers. IL law is all kinds of specific, and is denser in legalspeak than I care to quote. I could not find a statue which said that a parent cannot arm their children; only that both parties needed a FOID.

That the child has a FOID, or an IL-legal transfer is probably no guarantee of anything in the case of LE interaction.

Rule3 said:

I could no imagine having a gun when I was in College

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Back in my undergrad days (1978-83) it was about a guarantee that about half the single women you ran into had a revolver their daddy gave them. Probably about 1 in 3, 1 in 4, male students had some arms in their possession, handguns, rifles, shotguns. Mind, easily a tenth of the U emptied out on Opening Day (Quail, Deer, Waterfowl, Turkeys...) too.
Mind you, the U issued me an M-14 (not an M1A, either) along with LBE and camo at all of 18, too.

And, rather a lot of the guys on my floor had 1903, if mostly Drill Rifles.

Salty dude there is the late Bobby Cox'82, Fish Drill Team CO, Prior Service USMC, later CPT, USMC.

Rule3 said:

I agree. I could no imagine having a gun when I was in College) especial the first year I was in a dorm. After that in apartments with roommates.
Just would have been a nightmare IMHO!
Many University do not allow firearms.
What good is it, if it is locked in a box in a car??? (which is not a good idea anyway)

Get her several cans of pepper spray!

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I could not have imagined not having a gun on me in college. But I went to Wayne State, Detroit MI and even back in the seventies not the kindest place to go. Plus I had already graduated from the University of S. Vietnam with a degree in Infantry and Plane Exiting at High Altitude. So, congregating with 90 percent of the students was not a problem, they hated me and the other vets, so we got along great and basically, they didn't come near us. And I was there to learn; not drink and party.
As for being locked in a car? Not really! But I'm sure the statute of limitations has expired so I can say that.

I would defiantly find a good legal source and check with that source as closely as possible. The law can get real sticky when taking a firearm onto a campus out of the state your permit is good for. The Illinois FOID card might not carry much weight in Missouri. I don't know but if I were you I'd find out.

they just have to live there with the intent of making it their home.

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Please define "Live there".

Be very realistic about your daughter. Many folks go off to college and find all sorts of trouble to get themselves into when they are not under the watchful eye of mom and pop. Would your daughter be prone to drinking, drugs, street racing, piling 19 people into a Honda Civic for a Walmart run (Reckless endangerment), excessive speeding, or anything else that might land her in the back seat of a police car for any reason? If so then the simple fact of having a firearm in possession at the time can escalate charges significantly.

Case and point, a guy I grew up with got arrested for simple possession of marijuana while smoking on his front porch in college. The police used that as reason to search the premises and found a .243 chained and locked to the pipes for his water heater. His charge went from a misdemeanor possession charge to a felony for having a firearm in his possession while also having controlled substances.

Gifted my 10 year old grandson my new Ruger Bearcat for his 10th birthday. He was thrilled to no end.
Of course he does not possess it, as it resides in his dad’s safe, and only gets to handle & shoot it under adult supervision at the family land.
Did the same for his older brother several years ago, but he received my S&W Model 63.

Here is the information from the state of Missouri as far as where a firearms can be carried.

(10) Any higher education institution or elementary or secondary school facility without the consent of the governing body of the higher education institution or a school official or the district school board, unless the person with the concealed carry endorsement or permit is a teacher or administrator of an elementary or secondary school who has been designated by his or her school district as a school protection officer and is carrying a firearm in a school within that district, in which case no consent is required. Possession of a firearm in a vehicle on the premises of any higher education institution or elementary or secondary school facility shall not be a criminal offense so long as the firearm is not removed from the vehicle or brandished while the vehicle is on the premises;

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https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=571.107&bid=29721&hl=

So yes technically a firearm can be kept inside a locked vehicle on school/college property as long as it stays in the vehicle. And a Missouri CCW permit supersedes federal law as far as having a firearm in a vehicle on school grounds.